


My I

by Im_Chogistuck



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Junhui and Meanie are roomates, Junhui hates soulmates initially, Light Angst, M/M, Minghao's dad is a jerk, Past Abuse, Soulmates, You can feel their pain, cute minghao, mentions of child abuse, protective Junhui, you see your soulmate in your dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24392944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_Chogistuck/pseuds/Im_Chogistuck
Summary: — 𝙄𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙝𝙪𝙞 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙝𝙖𝙤
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 4
Kudos: 96





	1. 𝐌𝐲 𝐈

**Author's Note:**

> All the Chinese characters in this book were translated using google translate because ya girl isn't fluent in more than 2 languages (in which Chinese isn't included lol).
> 
> This story will be split into 4 parts (it was supposed to be a one shot but I thought it was too long). 
> 
> THIS IS ALSO POSTED ON MY WATTPAD @Im_Chogistuck SO FEEL FREE TO READ IT THERE AS WELL!

𝐌𝐲 𝐈

Junhui had never really believed in soulmates. Sure he saw people with them, but that didn't mean he believed in them. He had refused to believe in them ever since the incident with his parents.

Jun was only 6 when this happened, but the incident had left a huge scar on his life. And the cause of this big, yet invisible scar, was none other than _soulmates._

That particular word did him no harm, but the idea of it had flawed his memory of the word. In fact, he loathed the idea of being tied down to someone, not being able to love freely. He wanted to choose who to fall in love with, not be forced to be with someone he never knew or met before.

He had watched his life fall apart, piece by piece until there was nothing left.

Not a single speck of proof, other than his memories.

"Jun! Hurry up please! You're gonna make us all late!"

The 19-year-old male was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts when his roommates and best friends, Wonwoo and Mingyu, barged into his room. The three had been best friends since high school freshmen years, and they had managed to stick through thick and thin.

"I'm not going. You guys go without me," Jun muttered, and Wonwoo frowned. This was unusual behaviour for the Chinese male. Usually, the older male was the one hyped up for parties and whatnots, but today was one of those down days.

"Hyung...what's wrong?" Wonwoo asks, his voice a lot softer. Junhui shakes his head. There was nothing specific bothering him, but the thought of his future was frustrating him. This was a common thought for him, but never had he ever acted like this in front of Wonwoo and Mingyu.

In fact, they didn't even know what happened 13 years ago. All they knew was that Junhui was Chinese and he came to Korea to study. They didn't know about his background, his parents, nothing, but he knew almost everything about them.

"It's nothing Wonwoo. You should go with Mingyu and enjoy the party. Just tell Jeonghan hyung I was feeling a little sick. I'll call him later to apologize," Junhui says and Wonwoo sighs and Mingyu leaves the room to check for the gift they were bringing to the party.

He knew that there was no fighting back when Junhui said something. Once the older had made up his mind, it was set and nothing was going to change it. At times that was a good thing, but moments like this made Wonwoo want to smack the life out of his hyung.

"Ah! But hyung! Jeonghan hyung said that there's going to be someone new there and we all want to meet him and show him some respect, nae?" Wonwoo asks, hoping to use this excuse as something to make his hyung go, but to his dismay, he was turned down with a simple _'I'll just see them later.'_

Wonwoo sighs, but complies with his hyung's wishes.

"Alright then. I'll see you later." Wonwoo says and gets out of the room. The door closes gently behind Wonwoo and Junhui could hear him talking to Mingyu, explaining that the Chinese male was 'sick' and unable to go.

Soon, the main door slams shut and Junhui lets out a deep sigh.

He really didn't mean to make his best friends upset, but he knew that if he went to the party, he wouldn't be coming home sober. Maybe he wouldn't come back home at all for the night.

He groans as he stands up, muscles aching when he suddenly feels an intense pain in his abdomen. He doubles over in pain, clutching his stomach and gasping for air. He could feel tears pooling in his eyes as he grabs his bed stand with one hand, gripping it so hard that his knuckles turned white.

After a few seconds, he could feel the pain dying down a little bit before he could stand, a sharp pain to his rib brings him down again. The pain intensifies and soon, his head was hurting as well. The pain in his head was so intense that he passed out with one thought in his head.

_Is this my soulmate's pain?_

_Jun opens his eyes, blinking his eyes as he looks up at his ceiling. Then he frowns. His ceiling wasn't beige. It was a light baby blue, which Mingyu insisted would look nice._

_He sits upright in the bed and looks around and nearly passes out again when he sees another male. The other male was in bed beside Junhui, curled up in a ball and gently sobbing. His head was buried in the pillow and he was clutching tightly to his stomach._

_Junhui frowns._

_The boy was crying, and he seemed to be in a lot of pain. He slowly reaches out for the boy, but as he nears the boy, the boy looks up, straight at Junhui. His eyes were puffy and his cute button nose was red. Junhui stares back at the boy in awe, hand frozen right in front of the boy's stomach._

_The boy's eyes widen and he backs away slowly, grimacing in pain with the movement._

_"W-Who are you?" both boys ask in unison and both their eyes widen. Junhui pulls his hand back and gulps as the boy's eyes well up with tears. His hands automatically go to his mouth, closing it as he chokes on his sobs._

_Junhui's eyes widen as he starts to panic. He had never really been good at comforting people and he never really tried, but with this boy, something in him compelled him to do just that. He reaches out and strokes the boy's head, mentally cooing at the softness of the boy's hair._

_"H-Hey! It's alright. I won't hurt you. Why're you crying?"_

_The boy looks up at him with wet lashes and whimpers, voice cracking._

_"Mama told me that only soulmates show up and talk to us in our dreams. You're h-here," the boy whimpers, crying again as his voice quiets down at the end. Junhui's body goes limp upon hearing those words, and he looks down at his hand, where there was a white string attached to his ring finger. Before he could say anything, he blacks out again._

❧

Jun wakes up with a start, panting as he stares at the baby blue ceiling above his head. He sighs as he looks around.

He was in his bed, in his room, in his house, and he was glad he was. The dream had felt so real, but couldn't be, right?

_"Mama told me that only soulmates show up and talk to us in our dreams. You're h-here,"_

The way the boy had said those words hurt Junhui deep down though he refused to listen to his heart. It was as if the boy had been waiting for him for so long and now, if this _was_ real, he had left the poor boy hanging. He looked down at his hands, remembering the white string, but it was nowhere to be seen.

He then realized that he didn't know the name of the boy and the other way around. He groans as he sits up. As soon as his bed creaks, the door to his room slams open and Wonwoo and Mingyu race in.

"Oh my god! Hyung! You're up!" Wonwoo nearly bursts into tears as he runs to Junhui and engulfs the older in a bone-crushing hug. Mingyu stands by the doorway as he watches his boyfriend and his best friend.

When the two had come home from the party, the house had been too quiet for their liking, and it was unusual as well. Their hyung would always be up and it was only 11:34 pm. Junhui never went to bed that early, no matter what.

They had decided to check on their hyung, but when they had found his room dark and him unconscious on the floor near his bed, the two had panicked. Wonwoo had gone ahead to check his pulse and was relieved to find a strong one. They had put him back on his bed, but when 5 hours had passed, they were tempted to call the ambulance, but as soon as they heard a noise in his room, they had gone up to see him and now here they were; with two distressed boys and one confused and dazed boy, who had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on.

"Hyung! What happened?! How did you pass out?!" Wonwoo cries, not letting go of the older male, who groans in pain as his ribs were being crushed.

"I-I don't know. After you guys left, I was gonna go to the balcony, but when I stood up, my stomach started hurting so bad that I fell down, then my ribs and when my head hurt, I just passed out. And that's not even the weirdest part. I had a dream where I woke up in another boy's bed. He was crying and he saw me. He said that only in your—"

"Only in your dreams can you see your soulmate. And you feel your soulmate's pain when they long for you. Jun! You found your soulmate!" Wonwoo exclaims and Junhui looks at them suspiciously. Wonwoo had not only called him by his nickname, but he had also dropped the honorifics, which signalled that this was serious, but he was still suspicious.

"And you know this because?"

"Because that's how we found each other," Mingyu says, back hugging Wonwoo. Junhui gags at their cuteness, but deep inside, he was longing for the same kind of love.

Junhui stares at the wall behind Mingyu and sighs.

"My soulmate was hurt." He states, and Wonwoo rolls his eyes.

"Well yeah obviously. Otherwise, you wouldn't feel the pain," Wonwoo deadpans, and Mingyu snickers. Junhui shakes his head, suddenly looking panicked.

"It wasn't just an 'ouch that hurt' kind of pain! It was the 'Holy Shit, I'm literally dying' kind of pain!" Junhui exclaims and Wonwoo looks at the panicked male.

"What happened? I mean, what did it feel like?" Mingyu asks carefully.

"First it was like some elephants were stampeding over my stomach, then it was like I fell off a mountain and landed on my ribs then it was like a bulldozer ran over my head," Jun says, trying to define the pain. It sounded dramatic, but to Junhui it was the intense pain he could remember forever.

"O-Oh. Ok then. That must've hurt,"

"Yeah, and the boy in my dream was crying before he finally noticed my presence," Junhui tells, and Wonwoo and Mingyu nod. The fact that _Junhui_ had a soulmate was startling enough, but the fact that he was freaking out over him was even more shocking.

"Don't worry hyung. Maybe he'll let you see him in his dreams again tonight," Mingyu says, trying to calm the older male down.

"I'll bring him to my dreams! I just have to think of him, don't I?" Junhui asks, and Mingyu winces, while Wonwoo shakes his head, sighing.

"That's not how it works, Junhui. You have to _long_ for them, as in miss them," Wonwoo says and Junhui could be seen visibly deflating. The excited look was gone and was replaced with a sad and upset look.

How could he long for someone who he barely knew? And more importantly, how could he miss something he had hated since he knew how to?

Sighing, he looks at his two best friends with a sad look before shaking his head.

"You guys should go to bed. It's literally-" Junhui pauses to look at his bedside alarm clock and his eyes widen when he sees the time.

"It's freaking 4 in the morning and knowing you two, you probably came home at around midnight or something and didn't sleep since then!" Junhui scolds the younger males, who give him a sheepish look.

"But you need help. What if you need help?! What if you pass out again? What if you start hurting again?" Wonwoo asks, hysterically and Mingyu shakes head.

"He's right, Wonwoo. If we don't sleep now, he might need our help later on. Besides, it doesn't matter when we sleep. He might get hurt at any given time, so it's either no sleep at all until this is solved, or we sleep now and help him later. And anyway, Jun hyung needs to rest too," Mingyu reminds his boyfriend, who sighs, but nods.

The two younger males stand up and say goodnight to their hyung before leaving the room, leaving Junhui alone once again. He stares at the wall, thinking about what the boy from his dreams was doing right now.

Was he still crying?

Was he still hurting?

Why was _he_ so affected by this?

With those thoughts in his head, Junhui manages to fall into a dreamless sleep.

❧

When Junhui wakes up again, it was 12:10 pm. He groans as he rolls around in bed lazily before he froze, realizing he had work today, at 10.

He cursed in his head as he shot out of bed and stumbled to the washroom, hurriedly brushing his teeth. As he was brushing his hair, there was a knock on the door.

"Yeah?"

"Hyung? Are you up? Mingyu already called Jeonghan hyung and told him you're not coming. We told him you were still sick, so you couldn't come," Wonwoo says and Junhui stops brushing his teeth. He quickly rinses his mouth and crawls back to bed. He snuggles into his blanket and yawns.

Wonwoo watches from the door as his hyung slowly fell asleep once again. He sighs and smiles sadly. He really hoped for the best for his hyung, but Junhui had always been stubborn. He really hoped Junhui wouldn't hurt himself over the fact that he had a soulmate.

Yes, Wonwoo knew Junhui's past. He had seen Junhui's diary entries. When they were in high school, Junhui had always kept a diary. He hadn't let anyone near the book, but one day, he had accidentally left it in his locker, making Wonwoo curious. Being the snoopy boy he is, Wonwoo had flipped through the diary, which was surprisingly unlocked.

In it was the basic outline of his life, which Wonwoo could recall to this day. It was written simply, but there were a few Chinese characters which he couldn't decipher.

_Dear_ 日记

 _I can't do this anymore. This is too much for me to handle. I saw something weird on mama's finger and saw a white ribbon. When I asked her about it, she just shrugged it off, saying something as a child's_ 废话 _but I swear I wasn't lying._

敬上 _,_

_Wen Junhui_

_Dear_ 日记

 _I asked Baba what the string I saw was, and he told me that it was the_ 串的命运 _He said that all of the people on earth were tied to someone, their_ 重要的另一半 _. When I told him that Mama's was connected to someone else, he just shook his head and ignored me. He told me that I was wrong. That Mama really was his_ 灵魂伴侣 _. But then_ it _happened._

敬上,

Wen Junhui

Soon after those few entries, he had completely stopped writing small Chinese sentences. Instead, he began to write in full hangul, as if he wanted to abandon his past and start all over again.

_Dear Diary,_

_Eomma and Appa split up today. Eomma started to go out and drink, blaming me for the reason Appa left him. He said something about Junhui figuring out about their unconnected string of fate and about a legacy._

_"If one is not connected to their soulmate, they must not let anyone figure out. Those who have found out about their unconnected string of fate will be the reason for a couple's separation or in some cases, death."_

_I'm the one who ruined Eomma and Appa's 'perfect' relation, but to be honest, it wasn't as perfect as they thought. Appa worked hard, while Eomma was out spending all their money on other men and drugs. I had seen her bring in several men when I was younger, and when I questioned about it, she always told me that they were there to clean up the house, or cook them a yummy meal, and being the naive little kid I was, I believed it._

_That was probably the reason they split up anyway, but now because of this, I can't stomach the word soulmate. This is what split them apart. Had there been no such things as soulmates, I would still be with my perfect family, but because of them being tied to other people, Eomma is now with another guy somewhere else, and Appa is no longer with us. Apparently, his soul mate had died long ago and he fell in love with Eomma to forget his original soulmate._

_Stupid soulmates._

_They only ruin the lives of those who aren't connected. Those who want to be free to love anyone they want, like me._

_I'm tied down to someone I don't even know._

_I hate this._

_Yours Truly,_

_Wen Junhui._

That had been the last entry in Junhui's diary. Wonwoo couldn't believe that he had to go through the pain of being separated from their parents. As far as he knew, Junhui had come into Korea at the age of 9, with an aunt that left him alone once he hit 16. He didn't care though.

He claimed that he was always alone anyways, so Mingyu and Wonwoo let him stay with them, and here they were. They had started living in their own apartment when they were 18, freshly out of high school.

Mingyu and Wonwoo's parents paid for their university tuition while the three of them got jobs to support their personal lives. The younger male's parents still sent them money for personal stuff no matter how much they denied it.

Junhui, though, was a different story. He had decided to stop studying because he didn't have the money to. He had been a straight A's student all through high school and he was an excellent dancer, but he decided to stop his studies after he could no longer fund himself.

He, instead, pursued a dancing path. He worked in a small dance studio as a choreographer until he met Jeonghan and Seungcheol.

They were a couple, and Seungcheol was the CEO of one of the biggest entertainment companies in Korea, and they decided to hire the three males. Junhui as a choreographer and Mingyu and Wonwoo as rap trainers. They had all grown very close to each other as time passed, and now, not even a year later, they were all like brothers.

They meaning all their group consisting of Mingyu, Wonwoo, Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Junhui, Seungkwan, Chan, Soonyoung and Jihoon. Seungkwan, Jihoon and Jeonghan were vocal trainers with beautiful voices. Wonwoo and Mingyu were the rap trainers and Hoshi, Chan and Junhui were the main choreographers.

Wonwoo shakes his head, bringing himself out of his thoughts.

He pushes himself off the doorway and walks to the kitchen. He smiles sadly as he remembers his hyung's past. Junhui had been through a lot, but Wonwoo had no idea why he didn't tell anyone. His friends could all have helped him through his hardships, but he was the quiet, mysterious person that Wonwoo had yet to decipher.

"You ok? You look a little... lost," Mingyu says as he pulls Wonwoo into a hug, which the older male gladly accepts. Mingyu looks at Wonwoo's head, stunned. The older male was never one to accept affectionate gestures, but today, it seemed, was different.

Wonwoo snuggles into Mingyu's chest and lets out a held in sigh.

"Let's make lunch, yeah? Junhui hyung will wake up soon again, so we better prepare something for him. It's always him making the food for us when we come back from work, or when you and I are sick, so let's do something for him," Mingyu suggests and Wonwoo looks up from his buried place on Mingyu's clothed chest.

"Ok! Let's go out to get stuff, because the last time I checked, we were living off of instant ramen and water," Wonwoo says and Mingyu chuckles.

"Alright, let's go. I'll get my wallet,"

❧

_Junhui opens his eyes to a familiar beige ceiling again. His heart pounds in his ears as he looks around. The room was just like last time, except it was brighter, now that it wasn't the middle of the night._

_He expected to find the boy, but all he sees is a slightly clean, dark beige room. It had huge windows and a nice balcony, to which the doors were open and the light curtains were blowing._

_Junhui stands up and walks around the big room. He looks through the doors curiously, but still cannot find the boy he was looking for._

_"Minghao!" a sudden call makes Junhui freeze on the spot._

_Minghao? Who was that? That sounded like a Chinese name....could it be his soulmate's name?_

_Soon, there were footsteps outside the room and as the handle turns, Junhui begins to panic. What if the person on the outside sees him?! What was he going to do?_

_Just as Junhui was about to race into the closet, the door opens, revealing a balding man who looked about 45. The man looks around the room for the so-called 'Minghao' and when his eyes skim over where Junhui was standing, the young male finally realizes what was happening._

_He can't see me._

_The man sighs and shakes his head, before walking outside and closing the door._

_Once the footsteps were gone, Junhui continues to look around. He finally reaches the balcony doors, and he hesitates before deciding to go out onto the balcony. The huge balcony showcased a beautiful view of a garden and the forest out at the back._

_As he looks around, he hears a shuffle at the side and he sees the boy he was looking for._

_The smaller blonde boy was curled up on a wicker chair, shivering. Junhui's heart breaks at the sight of the small boy looking so fragile. He reaches out and puts his hand on the boy's head, gently stroking it._

_The boy's head immediately snaps up and Junhui could see red, puffy eyes once again, but this time, there was a bruise blooming on his jaw. It looked fresh as it had yet to become darker, but it was there and that was all that mattered to Junhui._

_"Who did this?!" he demands and when the boy doesn't reply, he kneels down beside the boy and cups his face, leaving the small boy startled. His eyes start to tear up once again, as if every time he saw Junhui, there was something to cry about._

_As if he was bad luck._

_Junhui shakes off the negative thoughts as he smiles gently at the boy._

_"Hey... why are you crying? You wanted me to come to you, so here I am. Don't cry," Junhui coos at the boy, trying to calm him down, but the boy's sobs just get louder. Junhui smiles sadly and does the one thing that came into his head._

_He hugged the boy._

_The boy shakes as he sobs into Junhui's chest, but after a few minutes, his shaking and sobbing had been reduced to a slight hiccup here and there. Junhui pushes the boy back a little so he could see him._

_"Hey...what's your name?"_

_The boy just looks at him as if Junhui had two heads, and an awkward silence fills the air. Junhui looks at the boy curiously and the boy steals a look at his face once more before burying his face back into his chest._

_"X-Xu Minghao..."_

_Junhui looked at the boy. He was right. His soulmate's name was Minghao._

_But who was that man looking for him?_

_"Minghao?" Junhui calls and the blond male hums, sending vibrations through the brunette's body. Junhui feels his face heat up, but he ignores it, tightening his arms around Minghao's waist._

_"Who was that man calling for you?"_

_Junhui could feel the boy's body tense up in his arms, which worried him._

_Had he asked something wrong?_

_"T-There was someone here?" Minghao asks in a small voice and when Minghao asks this, it was now Junhui's turn to freeze._

_"What do you mean 'was there someone here'? There was a man here. He looked a little old and he was wearing some kind of suit. He was calling out for you," Junhui says and Minghao pushes himself off of Junhui's chest._

_"W-What?! That sounds like my dad..." Minghao says and soon, Junhui could feel the small boy shaking in his arms._

_"H-Hey! It's ok. Why're you so scared?"_

_"Y-You don't know what he does! He looks kind, b-b-but you have to help me!" Minghao says, clawing at Junhui's arms, panicking. Junhui pulls the boy towards him and rocks them back and forth._

_"It's alright. I may not know who you are or where you are, but I swear I will find you and take you away from this nightmare." Junhui says, gently rubbing the boy's back._

_"I'm in Seoul. In Gangnam to be exact. My father is a famous businessman, Xu Qian Jiao." Minghao says and looks up at Junhui._

_"I'm Wen Junhui. I work at the main building for Coups Entertainment. My best friend's the CEO. Maybe I could ask him to help me locate you," Junhui says and Minghao's eyes widen._

_"Y-You work there?! I go there to practice my dance," Minghao says and Junhui looks at the boy, surprised._

_"Really?! When do you go? I work there almost every day, but I've never seen you before." Junhui says, trying to recall if he'd ever seen Minghao before._

_"I always come on weekends through the back door. Soonyoung hyung helped me find a practice room that no one ever uses, so I use that room. That's probably why. Soonyoung hyung said that everyone's forgotten that that room even exists."_

_"Oh! It's the room at the far back. It's a light grey room with mirrors on both walls right?" Junhui asks, heart pounding. He was so close to finding his soulmate and he couldn't wait to hold the boy in real life._

_"Yes! It's that room! Have you been there?"_

_"I used to teach classes there, but not anymore. If you go back there, ask the front desk for Jun. They'll know it's me and the receptionist will call me up front," Junhui says excitedly and Minghao nods, smiling happily._

_Before Junhui could tell him anything else, the door to Minghao's room opens again and he hears his dad calling him again._

_"Minghao! You insolent slut come out here right now!"_

_And then he passed out._

Junhui woke up with a start.

He sat upright and panted, looking around. He was back in his own room. He jumps out of bed and rushes to the washroom.

He quickly showers and changes into a pair of sweats and a comfy shirt before rushing out of his room. He sees Mingyu and Wonwoo on the couch, cuddling and giggling at each other. He slams the door to his room close, startling the two younger males.

"Junhui hyung! You're awake! We made you food-" Wonwoo was cut off by Junhui slamming the front door close.

"Where's he going?!" Wonwoo exclaims and Mingyu shrugs.

"I have a feeling it's got something to do with his soulmate. You should leave him be. He's a grown adult. He can take care of himself," Mingyu tells Wonwoo, who looks at Mingyu and sighs.

The younger male was right. Maybe Wonwoo was babying Junhui too much.

❧

Junhui runs to the Coups Entertainment company and pushes the doors open. He rushes in and walks quickly to the reception desk. The girl at the desk looks up with a smile.

"Oh. Hey Junhui, what can I do for you?" she asks sweetly.

"Hey, Leeha. Do you know if Cheol hyung is in today? I really have to talk to him," Junhui says, voice coming out desperate. Leeaha looks at her computer and types up somethings. A few minutes later, she picks up the phone and rings someone.

"Uh, yes, hi. It's Byul Leeha. Is Seungcheol ssi in today?" she pauses as she listens to the person on the other side of the line before smiling and thanking them and hanging up. She puts the phone down and grins up at Junhui.

"You're in luck. He was just about to leave," Leeha smiles before telling Junhui the floor number and the room.

Junhui wastes no time running to the elevator and getting to Seungcheol's office. Once he reaches the office, he knocks on the door. As much as he was in a hurry, he would rather save his eyes from JeongCheol's PDA.

"Seungcheol hyung! I need your help with something!" he calls and a few moments later, the door opens and Jeonghan peeks his head out. He grins upon seeing Junhui.

"Ah! Junhui! It's you. I thought it was Jihoon once again. That little midget can be so annoying sometimes. Don't tell him I called him a midget. He'll kill me for sure," Jeonghan says, rambling. Junhui smiles and shakes his head.

"I have to talk to Cheol hyung," Junhui says and Jeonghan shrugs, opening the door wider.

"I was gonna leave anyways," Jeonghan says, walking back into the office and a few seconds later, he returns with his bag and his overcoat. He ruffles Junhui's hair playfully and sends a flying kiss to Seungcheol before walking out.

Junhui walks into the office and grimaced upon seeing Seungcheol with messy hair and a weirdly put on tie. He ignored the fact that his two hyungs had been doing who knows what and focuses on the main topic; Minghao.

"Hey hyung. I have to ask you something," Junhui says and Seungcheol nods, motioning Junhui to sit down in front of the desk.

"Since you're a known person in business, I was wondering if you knew a Xu Qian Jiao," Junhui asks and Seungcheol pauses for a minute before nodding.

Junhui's face immediately brightens up as Seungcheol starts to speak.

"Qian Jiao is the owner of the Xumo Entreprises, why do you ask?"

"His son is my soulmate hyung! His name's Xu Minghao. I met him in my dreams. Wonwoo and Mingyu told me that you could feel your soulmate's pain and if you both long for each other, you'd see them in your dreams, and I saw him twice hyung! And both times he....he looked so pained and he was crying hyung. I have to do something!" Seungcheol looks at Junhui like he had grown another head.

"Uh...um...well, I really don't know what to do,"

"Well, he told me that he comes to practice here in the back room. Do you have a security footage of it? I just wanna see it. Please hyung?" Seungcheol smiles at the concerned side of Junhui. The younger, as far as he knew him, cared for no one other than his close friends, but him caring for this soulmate of his was beyond the normal. Especially when the two had only met a few days ago, in a dream.

"Sure. Go to the security room and use your ID. If anyone there asks, just tell them Coups sent you," Seungcheol says grinning as his dongsaeng smiles.

"Thanks, Cheol hyung! I owe you one!" Junhui calls as he rushes out of the room. Seungcheol smiles as he watches the younger. He was just glad that the younger was getting over his phobia of soulmates.

❧

Junhui slowly opens the door to the security room and peeks his head in. 2 guys with blonde and brown hair turn to look at him and immediately Junhui grins.

"Baekhyun hyung! Suho hyung!"

The two males weren't exactly the closest people with Junhui, but the younger male was comfortable around his hyungs, so things worked out just fine.

"Junnie! Long time no see!"

Junhui walks into the room and closes the door behind him. He smiles at the Baekhyun and bows to the both of them.

"I'm here to check the CCTV cameras in the back room. You know that grey room that no one uses?" Junhui asks and Baekhyun nods as Suho sips his coffee.

"I need to see something. Can you help me find the footage for last Saturday?" Suho puts his cup down and rolls over to one of the computers on the far left. He punches in a few things and presses a few buttons before a footage plays on the screen.

A person with a black hoodie came in with a red duffel bag. The person closes the door and takes off their hood and that was when Junhui could clearly see the blonde hair and obvious button nose.

"Hold on, pause it!" Junhui exclaims as the boy's face was finally visible. Suho hurriedly presses the pause button and the two older males look at Junhui in confusion.

"What's wrong, Junnie?" Baekhyun asks and Junhui looks up at him with tears in his eyes, which makes the two hyungs panic.

"That's him hyung! That's my soulmate," Junhui whispers before breaking down into small little sobs. Baekhyun smiles at his dongsaeng. He knew about Junhui's discomfort about the word ' _soulmates'_ but the boy in front of him said a different story.

"It's alright Jun. You'll see him tomorrow. It's Saturday tomorrow," Suho says, once Junhui tells them about why he was so overwhelmed. Junhui nods and smiles at the two older males before bidding them goodbye and walking outside.

They were right. He _would_ see Minghao tomorrow, and if possible, tonight even.

With those thoughts in mind, Junhui walks home with a happy smile on his face.

❧

Junhui rushes to the Coups Entertainment building, early the next morning. He had forgotten one small detail: Soonyoung.

Minghao had said that Soonyoung was the one who set up Minghao's little practice sessions. With that in mind, Junhui rushes to find the younger male. Though Soonyoung was always at the building early, today was one of the days where he came after 3.

Saturday was always the SoonHoon couple's lazy day until after 3. That was their part-time day because it was the slowest day. Upon realizing this, Junhui groans and smacks himself mentally.

As he waits for 3 o'clock to arrive, he prepares for his classes. Usually, he would practice in the room he was teaching in, but today, he decided to change it up. He decided to go to the grey room where Minghao was supposed to be.

He opens the door to the room and flicks on the light. He looks around and closes the door upon entering the room. He walks over to the speakers and connects his phone to the big sound system, and blasts on one of his favourite songs called My I. It was supposedly his mother's favourite because of it reminding her of her soulmate, whom she had suspected to be Junhui's father at the time.

Although it brought up bad memories, Junhui was still, for some strange reason drawn to the song. It was as if the meaning of the song was something meant for Junhui's life.

_It's unclear in the fog_

_But there's someone inside_

_It's familiar as if they feel me but_

_It's different, different, different_

Junhui begins to move his body to the rhythm and closes his eyes to drown himself in the music and forget about the outside world. To forget about his past. To forget about his soulmate and their delayed meeting, even if it was for a little while.

_Your waving hand_

_Not sure if you want me to come or go_

_What does it mean, tell me about it_

_If there's two earths_

_It could be a different me too_

_When I take one step closer_

_The flower path grows thorns_

_Then you reach out to save me_

_Hey_

_When I meet you after time passes_

_I'll know uh (you were my future)_

_I'll know uh (I was your yesterday)_

"I'll know uh, neon naye miraeyeotda, I'll know uh nan neoye eojeyeotda" Junhui's eyes snap open to a familiar yet quiet voice and he freezes. His body automatically turns around, like the needle of a compass, and there, near the back door, was who he was dying to meet.

The blonde boy's eyes widen and fill up with tears as he drops his bag on the ground. His hands cup his mouth as he silently begins to sob.

"I-It's finally you,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> 日记 : Diary  
> 废话 : Nonsense  
> 串的命运 : String of Fate  
> 重要的另一半 : Significant Other  
> 灵魂伴侣 : Soulmate  
> 敬上 : Yours Truly 
> 
> I hope you don't mind me putting the translations here. I didn't want to disrupt the imagery that your minds are creating while you're reading this, by putting the translations in the sentences. 
> 
> Basically, in the first entry, Junhui is saying that he can see the string of fate and when he got too overwhelmed with curiosity, he asked his mother about it, she just shrugged it off saying it was a child's nonsense.
> 
> In the second entry, Junhui is saying that he asked his father what the string and he told him that it was the string of fate that he was seeing and that everyone was tied to someone; everyone had a soulmate. When Junhui told his father that his mother's string was not connected to the older male's, his father ignored him and told him that his mother was his soulmate when in fact she wasn't.


	2. 𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐈

𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐈 | 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐨

Junhui stared blankly at the boy a few meters away from him. There he was. His soulmate. He was finally standing in front of him.

"M-Minghao?"

The brunette male's sobs got louder as he stayed where he was, unable to move. Junhui finally snapped out of his trance and ran to the boy, engulfing his body in a tight, warm hug.

As soon as they touched each other, they felt a shock going through both their bodies.

Minghao's knees gave up on him as he clutched Junhui's shirt and let his body collapse against Junhui's. The brunette held Minghao's body up as he held both their bodies up. He hugged the boy and let himself fall to the ground slowly, making sure he didn't hurt the other.

"Minghao, don't cry. I'm here," Junhui cooed, trying to calm the boy down. He was trying his best not to get emotional as well. He was a man and men didn't cry.

He rocked their bodies back and forth as he hummed the tune to My I. Minghao's smaller body slowly began to stop shaking and soon, his sobs died down to the occasional whimper and hiccup. Junhui smiled as he felt Minghao bury his face further into his chest. Most people would be concerned about their shirts getting ruined, but Junhui couldn't care less (probably because he was too caught up in the moment to even think about it, and also because it was an old shirt anyways).

He gently pushed Minghao away from him and looked at the smaller male's face. Although his eyes were a little puffy and bloodshot, Junhui could still see the beautiful smokey gray eyes that immediately captivated him and drowned him.

But Junhui's favourite part of Minghao's face had to be his small button nose that Junhui could boop and kiss and give small Eskimo kisses to. He grinned at his soulmate's perfection and gently leaned down to peck his forehead, making Minghao blush a bright shade of pink.

"Y-Yah! We only met today, you playboy," Minghao teased, blushing and looked down at his hands that were clutching Junhui's shirt very tightly. Minghao's body suddenly rocked as Junhui laughed. The brunette looked at Minghao and winked.

"Aww, dang it. How did you know?" Junhui asked sarcastically, deciding to play along. Minghao blushed and pouted. He looked up at Junhui, who was grinning down at the younger with so much love and affection that he thought he would burst.

"H-Hey, Junhui," Minghao called, a few seconds after they finished staring at each other's faces. The brunette hummed and looked up from Minghao's lips to meet his eyes.

"Yes?"

"I heard that once you meet your soulmate, your eyes change colors," Minghao said in an innocent tone and Junhui looked at Minghao in surprise.

"R-Really?" Junhui asked, shocked. So before they met, Minghao's eyes weren't gray?

"Yeah, what colour are mine? Yours are a really pretty baby blue," Minghao said, the last part turning into a whisper. Junhui's eyes widened. As far as he knew (which was since he was born), his eyes had been the same old boring brown as the majority of the world's people.

"Yours are a light grey. A-And they're really pretty!" Junhui exclaimed with a blush and Minghao's cheeks blossomed into the beautiful pink shade that Junhui already loved even though he had only seen it thrice. Junhui chuckled and stood up, pulling Minghao up with him.

Junhui glanced at the clock and mentally cursed. He looked at Minghao, who was still clutching onto him and smiled.

"Hey Hao, I have to go teach my classes now. I'll be back in a few hours if you want to wait," Junhui said and Minghao's happy eyes visibly deflated. He shook his head as tears start filling his eyes again.

"H-Hey, Hao! What's wrong? Don't cry! We can exchange numbers and text," Junhui suggested, but to no avail. His smaller soulmate started to physically shake and whimper in his hold, and that was when Junhui knew something was seriously wrong.

Everyone loved going home to their family and bragging about them finding a soulmate right? At least that's what Junhui thought. He couldn't really tell, as he had no living family of his own other than his maternal and paternal uncles and aunts, who were in China, and who gave no shit about him.

He remembered how hurt he was due to Minghao's pain the first time they met and how the smaller male looked so pained both times. Junhui looked down at his soulmate who had his head facing the ground. His headful of black hair was in his face, letting him inhale the sweet scent of honey and lemon. He put his face in his hair and sighed.

"Hao, are you ok?" Junhui asked and Minghao shook his head.

"I don't want to go home, Junnie,"

Junhui's heart broke as he heard Minghao sounding so pained and tired. He decided to bring Minghao to his class and watch, maybe even teach. He knew that the smaller brunette boy knew how to dance, but he just didn't know how much.

"Hao...why don't you come with me to my class? You can watch and maybe even teach," Junhui suggested and Minghao looked up the taller with hopeful eyes.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, why not? Besides, you can show me just how much you know. Maybe I can learn something too," Junhui said and Minghao pushed himself off of Junhui's chest to look at his eyes, which were filled with honesty.

"Ok! Let's go!" Minghao exclaimed, the sadness long forgotten. He picked his bag up off the floor and looked back at Junhui who was chuckling in amusement. Minghao was so adorable. One moment, the younger was crying and refusing to go home and the next, he was happily waiting for Junhui to go dancing.

"Let's go," Junhui walked to the speakers and unplugged his phone. He checked the time and cursed at himself again. He was 3 minutes late. He silently hoped that his students were warming up and training rather than fooling around.

He grabbed Minghao's hand and walked (more like ran) to the dance room. Minghao was letting himself get pulled around happily, which made it a thousand times faster and easier for Junhui as the younger wasn't resisting. Once they reached the room, Junhui pushed open the door to see his students practicing. Some were fooling around, but most of them were practicing.

As soon as the students saw Junhui, they stopped what they were doing and looked at him. When he pulled an unknown male behind him, they thought that it would be a new student, but how wrong they were.

"Sorry, I'm late. I had to take care of something. Guys, meet Minghao, my soulmate. He's going to be helping out today." Junhui grinned and everyone started to murmur and whisper.

"Introduce yourself Minghao. Maybe then they'll actually warm up to you," Junhui said and Minghao nodded, shyly gripping Junhui's hand and half hiding behind his newly found soulmate.

"I-I'm Xu Minghao, but my Korean name is Seo Myungho, so you can call me either one. Um, I like dancing and martial arts and I'll probably come see you guys often," Minghao said shyly, cheeks flushing a light pink.

"Jun hyung! Is Minghao hyung going to teach us stuff too?" a boy with light brown hair asked. Junhui shrugged and looked at Minghao, who was looking up at him excitedly.

"Depends on Minghao, Samuel." Junhui looked at Minghao who nodded excitedly.

"Alright then, Show us what you've got," Junhui said and Minghao looked at him with something Junhui couldn't figure out.

"Could you play My I for me? It's the song I know how to dance perfectly to," Minghao whispered quietly and Junhui's eyes widened. He was teaching the class the dance for My I, and if Minghao could do it, maybe he could teach them the full duet dance version of it.

Junhui nodded hastily and rushed to plug in his phone. He quickly scrolled through his playlist and found My I by the group who went by the name of 'Seventeen' or 'SVT'.

Junhui pressed play and the music could soon be heard all throughout the room, loud and crystal clear.

_It's unclear in the fog_

_But there's someone inside_

_It's familiar as if they feel me but_

_It's different, different, different_

_Your waving hand_

_Not sure if you want me to come or go_

_What did it mean, tell me about it_

_If there's two earths_

_It could be a different me too_

Junhui watched in awe as Minghao started to dance. Minghao had started out so fluidly, moving his body around as if he was one with the music.

Junhui started to sink into the music, listening to the words as he watches the black haired boy. He couldn't help but think that the music was somewhat related to him.

In the beginning, it said something about seeing someone in an unclear fog, and how the singer felt their mysterious lover, and it reminded Junhui of Minghao and himself.

Minghao's figure was somewhat foggy to him at the beginning as he didn't know the younger, but he had still felt Minghao.

He had felt his pain and somewhere at the back of his mind, he had felt the younger male's presence. Junhui pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he continued to watch Minghao in awe.

It seemed that all the other students were in awe too.

_When I take one step closer_

_The flower path grows thorns_

_Then you reach out to save me_

_Hey_

_When I meet you after time passes_

_I'll know uh (you were my future)_

_I'll know uh (I was your yesterday)_

_When I meet you after time passes_

_I'll know uh (you protected me)_

_I'll know uh (I desired you)_

_My I_

Junhui's eyes never left the boy as he watched his soulmate dance ever so gracefully. Junhui watched his steps as he visualized a duet dance with Minghao. The way the younger was dancing was perfect.

It was the opposite of what Junhui did in his dance, so if they tried it out, maybe it would work out.

_The small wing on my wingbone_

_When will it grow bigger_

_When my own wind blows_

_Is that when I'll be able to extend these wings_

_When I close my eyes, when I breathe_

_If I don't deceive myself_

_I won't be lost or sad_

_When I take one step closer_

_The flower path grows thorns_

_Then you reach out to save me_

_Hey_

_When I meet you after time passes_

_I'll know uh (you were my future)_

_I'll know uh (I was your yesterday)_

_When I meet you after time passes_

_I'll know uh (you protected me)_

_I'll know uh (I desired you)_

_My I_

_Hey_

_When I meet you after time passes_

_I'll know uh (you were my future)_

_I'll know uh (I was your yesterday)_

_When I meet you after time passes_

_I'll know uh (you protected me)_

_I'll know uh (I desired you)_

_My I_

As the song comes to an end, Minghao did a few wushu and b-boy moves, surprising Junhui. The black haired male seemed like the shy and cute type of person, but it seemed that he had the badass side to him as well.

Once the song ended, Minghao was panting and sweating. One of the students went to the speakers to pause the next song and immediately rushed back to sit down.

Minghao looked at Junhui. He was looking for Junhui's reaction, but the other male was completely frozen in place. Minghao grinned and walked to him, poking Junhui's cheek. The brunette flinched and looked at Minghao with so much pride that Minghao thought he would burst under his gaze.

"How was that?" Minghao asked both Junhui and the rest of the class, who still seemed to be in shock. Junhui cleared his throat and grinned at Minghao.

"Welcome to the Coups Entertainment Choreography Class," was all that Junhui needed to say before everyone burst into applause, making Minghao flush and hide behind Junhui once again. Where had all the confidence from a few second ago gone?

"That was beautiful, Hao. Since the class is learning the exact same song, why don't we do a duet dance and teach the class that? It'll be a lot easier than trying to keep yourself from tripping on the ribbon," Junhui suggested and Minghao's eyes widened.

"Of course! What'd you guys think?" Minghao asked and the whole class cheered, immediately going to their friends to partner up.

Junhui smiled proudly at Minghao and pulled the male back onto his chest. Minghao yelped but smiled at the back hug he was trapped in. He acted like he was disgusted, but he was secretly enjoying it.

Not that he'd tell ever Junhui. His ego was already too high and Minghao didn't want it to fly out of the roof.

❧

Junhui closed the door to the practice room as he motioned Minghao to come over to him. The younger did so without hesitation. He quickly swung his bag over his shoulder and ran to Junhui's side.

"Hyung....I don't wanna go home," Minghao whimpered and Junhui frowned in concern.

There was something going on in Minghao's private life, but Junhui didn't want to force it out of the boy. He wanted him to tell him by himself when he was ready.

"Is there something wrong?" Junhui asked and he could visibly see Minghao shaking and quivering. Junhui's heart clenched at the sight of his soulmate appearing so weak. Sure he had hated the idea of having a soulmate and being tied down, but when he met the boy that god had handpicked for him, Junhui couldn't help but fall into the trap.

Except he liked it. He liked the trap he fell into.

"Hey, don't worry. You can stay over at my place with me and my roommates. I really don't know what happened at home, but with you like this, I sure as hell am not letting you go back," Junhui said, grabbing Minghao's hand.

Minghao smiled at the warmth that Junhui's hand provided. He hated to admit it, but he was seriously falling in love with someone who he had just met today. He ignored the fact that this boy was his soulmate. He couldn't trust someone so easily.

Not after what happened at home.

❧

Junhui opened the door to his shared apartment with the Meanie couple. He actually had no idea why he started calling them 'Meanie'. Maybe it was because Wonwoo is always mean to Mingyu.

"Welcome to my house," Junhui said as Minghao walked in. The smaller nodded as he looked around and took off his shoes, following Junhui inside. The apartment unit wasn't too big, but it sure was comfy looking. Compared to Minghao's empty home, it was much, much better, even if it was smaller.

There were lots of picture frames on the walls of Junhui and two other males, who he guessed were Junhui's roommates. There were also pictures of just his roommates, who he guessed were a couple.

"It's probably not what you're used to, but this is the cheap-ass house that I can barely afford," Junhui said, which makes Minghao giggle. He shook his head. He knew that Junhui had figured out who his father was. After all, he had told him.

"No. It's very cute and homey. My house isn't home. It's just a huge building with no one but me inside," Minghao said and took off his jacket. He looked around for a place to put it and was surprised when Junhui took it.

"I'll put it away. You can put your bag in my room. It's the one with the midnight blue door. Mingyu and Wonwoo share a bedroom so you can sleep in my room for tonight. I'll sleep on the couch," Junhui said as he hung up Minghao's coat.

Minghao nodded, following Junhui's instructions. He slowly opened the designated door and peeked inside, making sure it was the right room. The room was a light baby blue, which, although sounded too boyish, was very aesthetically pleasing.

The black haired boy walked into the room, and put his bag right by the door and looking around the room. There was a big bed a few meters from a fair-sized window, with a nightstand and lamp right next to it. There was also a big bookshelf at the far left corner of the room, right beside the window filled with loads of books.

' _He likes to read'_

There were many pictures of himself and his friends on the wall behind the bed.

In the middle were the words ' _Never Forget'_.

Minghao smiled. At least his soulmate was living an easy and comfortable life. The younger male was so busy looking around and admiring the room that he didn't realize when Junhui walked in.

"Mingyu and Wonwoo said that they're staying over at Woozi hyung's house for tonight to work on some song for the company, so I'll use their room instead," Junhui said as he watched Minghao admire his room.

"O-Ok,"

Junhui leaned against the door frame, watching Minghao, who thought that Junhui had left. Minghao took a step towards the bookshelf and looked at one of the book spines that caught his attention in particular.

It was a book in Chinese.

' _So my soulmate's Chinese too. What a match.'_ Minghao thought, smiling happily as his hand hovers over the book. The writing on the spine was golden and engraved onto the book cover.

" _残酷罗曼史_... A cruel romance," Minghao read aloud, fingers grazing the book spine. Junhui smiled at his soulmate as he pushed himself off the doorway and spoke, startling Minghao.

"If you like, you can read it. Don't worry about getting in trouble,"

Minghao whipped his head back and blushed.

"N-No. It's ok. I was just curious as I saw books and I was-"

"It's alright Minghao. You can go ahead and read them. I don't mind. Don't you ever worry about having to get into trouble or messing anything up when you're with me. I don't know who's doing what to you at home, but with me, just be yourself,"

Minghao looked at Junhui wide-eyed, not realizing that he was tearing up. The smaller male had tears pooling in his eyes and that caused Junhui to panic. The boy was never good with crying people, especially when it came to his soulmate. Even if it was his second time seeing Minghao cry, Junhui was still a clueless puppy.

"H-Hey! Don't cry! I didn't mean to make you cry." Junhui said as he rushed to console his soulmate. The smaller male just cried harder as Junhui's arms enveloped him. He had no idea what was happening and why he was crying, but he secretly enjoyed being held by Junhui.

Maybe he should act sad more often.

Junhui, on the other hand, was freaking out. Minghao's body was shaking with each sob, and it kept getting worse and worse until it slowly stopped. Junhui looked down at Minghao in his arms. The boy was fast asleep.

Junhui smiled at the boy's cuteness. Junhui picked up the small brunette male bridal style and gently placed him on his bed. He looked at the boy's peaceful face as he was sleeping. He had absolutely no idea what was hurting the boy or making him cry at the thought of home, but he was dying to find out.

"Just what is happening to you Xu Minghao?"

Without knowing it, Junhui soon fell asleep while adoring Minghao's face.

❧

Junhui woke up to a poke on his shoulder. He grunted as he tried to roll over but the poking just seemed to get more and more annoying.

"Yah! Junhui! Wake up!"

Junhui jolted awake as he looked around. It was early morning.

_Did I sleep for the remainder of yesterday?_

He looked beside him and saw that Minghao was the culprit who was poking him. He groaned as he sat up. He had fallen asleep beside Minghao and had hugged him in his sleep.

"Yah! What happened?!" Junhui groaned and Minghao looked away blushing.

"U-Um...I don't know. I was crying one moment, and the next moment, I wake up to see you here beside me and um, I need to go to the bathroom." Minghao said and Junhui blushed lightly, letting go of Minghao, who was still safely tucked away in his arms.

"S-Sorry. I tend to lose control of myself when I sleep," Junhui said, sitting up on his elbow. Minghao smiled and shook his head as he got out of bed and walked to Junhui's ensuite bathroom.

"It's fine. It felt nice, to be honest,"

Junhui didn't say anything as Minghao walked into the bathroom. He stared at the baby blue walls of his room as he thought back to the event of yesterday. How he was so petrified of having someone pinning him down and preventing him from being 'free' to love as he wished, yet here he was, loving the one thing that he thought he had hated.

The more he thought about it, the more he began to wonder why he had ever even hated the thing that would help him forget.

Forget about all the pain and the hardships he had gone through at such a young age. He sighed as he closed his eyes and massaged his head. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt for loathing such an innocent person.

"Junnie...are you ok?" Minghao's quiet voice brought Junhui out of his daydream.

Junhui's eyes snapped open as he looked up at his soulmate. _His_ soulmate. The one he was born to love and be with, the one that his mother would probably try to wipe out.

At the thought of his mother, Junhui froze. He didn't know why he thought about her, but to be honest, it was probably the truth. His mother wouldn't ever accept the fact that Minghao was his soulmate. Ever since his father had passed away, his mother had been acting very psychotic.

"I-I'm ok...just thinking about the past," Junhui said, voice quiet. Minghao said nothing, instead, he walked back to the bed and snuggled onto Junhui's lap instead. Junhui didn't disagree, but instead, he wrapped his arms securely around Minghao's waist. The two stayed quiet for a while before Minghao's stomach broke the silence.

Junhui chuckled and he pulled Minghao closer to his chest, making Minghao both blush and pout.

"Let's go make you some breakfast,"

The two males got off the bed and Junhui took Minghao's hand, leading the flustered male into the big kitchen that Mingyu usually banned Wonwoo and himself from going into ever since the two had almost killed themselves trying to make toast.

Long story short, the toast had got caught in the toaster and Wonwoo decided to get it out with a fork and Junhui had accidentally knocked the toaster into the sink when he was reaching for a dirty plate and the two had almost gotten electrocuted. Thankfully, Wonwoo had unplugged the toaster and let it cool down before attempting the stupid act.

"Can we just eat normal cereal? I'm not exactly the best at cooking," Junhui said, having flashbacks to when he had burnt himself trying to make a simple omelette when he first arrived to Korea. That was almost 7 years ago, long before he met the Meanie couple.

Minghao nodded happily, making Junhui wonder what his regular breakfast was. Afterall, he was from a wealthy family, and their breakfasts seemed very lavish.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm usually not allowed to have such a breakfast," Minghao said, starting out happy, but his voice fading into a sad tone that made Junhui wonder even more about what happened at Minghao's house.

"What'd you mean?"

Minghao didn't say anything, instead, he took the cereal box from Junhui's hand and grabbing a bowl from the cabinet behind Junhui. The older of the two frowned and pulled Minghao back by grabbing onto his wrist.

"Minghao, you have to tell me what's happening if you want me to help you. If you don't tell me, there's nothing much I can do. It's like telling a blind man to solve a crime he was never able to see, Hao," Junhui said, pulling Minghao back into his chest and Minghao tensed.

After a few minutes of silence, Minghao let out a sigh.

"My mother passed away when I was only 8. Mama and Baba were soulmates, and when Mama passed away, something led baba to believe that I was the cause of his soulmate's death even though he should've known it was a disease. After that, he went a little berserk on me and he tried..."

Minghao stopped, choking back a sob as be pushed the cereal box and bowl onto the counter so he could shield his face from Junhui. The older turned Minghao around and pulled his hands off his face.

"He tried to what, Hao?"

Minghao choked on another sob, but despite that, he went on.

"He tried to kill me. N-not the fast way. He tried killing me slowly. He starved me, a-and locked me out of the house for some time, but when he found me alive, he tried to act nice to me, and when I still didn't trust him, he tried to sell me off to other males,"

Minghao was now fully crying with tears streaming down his face.

Junhui froze as Minghao talked about his past. To think that something terrible was happening to someone as innocent and adorable as Minghao broke his heart. First, this was domestic abuse and second of all, it was a type of sexual harassment.

"D-Did they do anything to you?" Junhui asked, voice cracking slightly and when Minghao tenses, he knew the answer.

"Junnie. T-They forced me to do n-nasty things. It was so gross. Make it stop, please Junnie," Minghao pleaded as he started to have a panic attack. He started to hyperventilate as his face paled, making Junhui worried.

Not really knowing what to do, Junhui turned Minghao around and hugged him, patting his back and whispering soothing words in his ears. It took a while before the younger finally started calming down.

"Are you ok?"

Minghao didn't say anything, but he buried his face into Junhui's chest. Junhui sighed and continued to hug Minghao.

"From now on, you're not going anywhere without me. Who knows what your dad's going to do to you? You'll stay with me, ok?"Junhui asked and smiled as he felt Minghao nod and relax a little.

"Hey, Minghao, how old are you?"

"17. My birthday's in a few months," Minghao mumbled. Junhui nodded and started to think for a minute. If Minghao was still 17, it meant that he was underaged and if they reported his father, Minghao would be taken into custody by someone else and Junhui didn't want that.

"How much is 'a few months'?" he asked Minghao after a few minutes.

Minghao stayed quiet for a few seconds until he replied with a quiet "2 months,"

That meant that was still 2 months before Minghao's birthday, so Junhui had to take care of him until he was legal. That was no problem for Junhui, but Minghao's dad could come looking for him. Minghao was quite valuable for him since he was the heir to the company after all.

"So...would you be willing to stay with me for the next three months?"

Minghao looked up at Junhui with hope in his eyes and nodded happily.

"Well, I'll have to ask the meanie couple, but most likely you'll be able to stay," Junhui said and Minghao nodded, looking at Junhui.

"Don't make me go back there, Junnie. That place is hell. I never wanna go back," Minghao said and Junhui nodded.

"You'll have to get your stuff though, won't you?"

"Y-Yes, but I'll go and get it. Baba's not home in the afternoons. He's always busy, so I'll be able to go today, but please just make sure I can stay," Minghao pleaded and Junhui looked at the clock.

It read 9:24 am.

"Hang on. I'm gonna go ask Wonwoo. Mingyu's probably still working on something," Junhui said and let go of Minghao and to grab his phone which was on the coffee table. He quickly rang Wonwoo, who was saved as "Emowoo," on his phone.

Wonwoo picked up the phone almost immediately.

 _"Junhui hyung! Are you ok?!"_ Junhui chuckled and hummed.

"Hey Woo, you remember my soulmate that I talked about?"

 _"Yeah, what about him?"_ There was then a gasp on the other end before Wonwoo spoke again.

 _"Did you guys do the dirty? Please not on the couch,"_ Wonwoo pleaded and Junhui immediately turned red, as he shook his head vigorously.

"N-No, that's not what I called for. He needs to stay here for a while. Something's going on at his house and I don't want him to go back. He'll be able to stay with us, right?"

There was a silence before Wonwoo called for Mingyu on the other line. Soon enough a crash was heard and he heard Mingyu talking and Wonwoo scolding him.

_"Junhui hyung's soulmate is staying with us! Did you clean the house before you--"_

"We were already here since yesterday, so don't worry about that. I just need a yes or a no," Junhui said and immediately heard a chorus of 'yeses' from the two. He chuckled as he looked at Minghao who was sitting on the kitchen island stools, looking at him.

"Then why don't you talk to him?"

He could hear the excitement on the other line and sees Minghao looking shocked. Junhui puts the phone on speaker.

"Alright, speak,"

_"Hi Junhui hyung's soulmate that we don't know. We're Mingyu and Wonwoo,"_

"H-Hi. I-I'm X-X-Xu Minghao," Minghao stuttered, which Junhui found cute.

_"Omo! You sound so cute! Are you Chinese too? How'd you meet Junhui hyung? What do you think of--"_

"Ok, ok, one at a time. Minghao will answer them later on when you guys _actually_ meet him," Minghao looked at Junhui with panic written in his eyes but Junhui shook his head.

"Ok! We'll be there in like a few hours," Junhui heard Mingyu's voice before they hung up. Minghao looked at him surprised as Junhui chuckled.

"They're like puppies,"

"Yeah, they kinda are. They look so scary and intimidating, but in reality, they're the cutest couple you'll see around," Junhui said as he put his phone away and grabbed a bowl, filling it with his favourite cinnamon cereal.

"We'll beat them though," Junhui said, winking at Minghao, who in turn blushed. He didn't say anything, instead, turning around.

"You like cinnamon right?" Junhui asks and Minghao turned back and looked at him confused, but nodded anyways.

"Why? Are you putting cinnamon in my cereal?" Minghao asked and Junhui smiled at his innocence and shook his head, grabbing him by the waist and pulling him back towards his chest.

"No silly. The cereal is cinnamon flavoured, so I was wondering if that was ok." Junhui said and Minghao's heart swelled at the thought of his soulmate caring about such small details. Back at home, the servants and his father didn't even bother asking him what foods he liked. All he got was watery oatmeal in the morning, a crusty, stale cheese sandwich in the afternoon and a sweet potato at night, without his say in it.

He was a prisoner trapped in the prison that everyone called his "home", but he was glad be got away, because now, he was going to live with his beloved soulmate that his mama told him about since he was younger and he could finally, possibly get the love he deserved after all the abuse and manhandling he had gone through.

As he cuddled up to Junhui's warm chest, he looked outside the balcony door at the window and smiles at the sunny blue sky outside, silently whispering the words;

_"謝謝 媽媽,"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:  
> 残酷罗曼史 : A Cruel Romance [this is an actual book by Ni Luo]  
> 謝謝 媽媽 : Thank you, Mama/Mom
> 
> NONE OF MY BOOKS ARE EDITED SO PLEASE DO NOT GRILL ME ON GRAMMAR!   
> Constructive criticism is welcome! :D


	3. 𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐈𝐈

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bolded speech text means Junhui and Minghao are talking in Mandarin

𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐈𝐈 

Once the two boys had their breakfast of cereal (thanks to Junhui's amazing cooking skills), they sat on the couch as Junhui turned the TV on.

The two started to watch some cheesy Kdramas as they waited for Mingyu and Wonwoo. Just as the 4th drama came to an end and Minghao was falling asleep again, they heard the door rattle before it burst open, revealing two tall boys; one with an excited puppy face and the other with a colder, emotionless face.

"Junhui hy--" Wonwoo smacked his hand over his soulmate's mouth before he could wake up the boy in Junhui's arms. Junhui looked at the two and makes a ' _shut up before I make you'_ face. They two gulped.

"Shh! Be quiet idiot! Minghao looked like he just fell asleep!" Wonwoo warned Mingyu who pouted but nodded as Wonwoo let go of his mouth.

"Hey Mingyu, Wonwoo. Minghao just fell asleep," Junhui explained as he paused the drama. He sat up a bit more, careful not to wake Minghao up. He gently lifted Minghao up as the brunette cuddled up to Junhui's chest, still fast asleep.

The meanie couple watched as their hyung took the black haired boy to his room and laid him on the bed before walking back outside.

He sighed as he looked at the meanie couple.

"Something is going on at home and he's underage, so if he reports it he'll be put into an orphanage, so I'm making sure he stays here until he's legal," Junhui said, getting straight into the details and the two males nodded.

"And when exactly will he be legal again?"

"In 2 months. He said so. I think he's born in November," Junhui said and shrugged, making Wonwoo nod. Mingyu looked at the hallway where their bedrooms were. There in the hallway, was Minghao, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Looks like your damsel in distress is awake," Mingyu said and Junhui looked at the hallway, where Minghao glared sleepily at the taller male.

"I have no idea who you are, but I'll have you know that I can wushu your ass back to wherever you came from. I'm no damsel in distress," Minghao mumbled as he made his way to where Junhui was sitting. He yawned again and looked around. Junhui smiled lovingly as he pulled Minghao closer to his body.

"Minghao this is Jeon Wonwoo and that's Kim Mingyu," Junhui said, pointing to the designated people. Minghao went from Thughao mode to the shy Minghao Junhui adored, not that he didn't adore Thughhao mode.

"I-I'm Xu Minghao, and I think I'm younger than you," Minghao said as his ears turned pink, making Junhui and the Meanie couple coo at his adorableness.

"Well Minghao, you're free to stay here as long as you like, Mingyu and I don't mind, and you don't have to worry about money. Junhui hyung and I'll take care of it," Wonwoo said, smiling at Minghao making Junhui and Mingyu stare in amazement.

"Oh my god. He smiled. Did you see that Junhui hyung?!" Mingyu exclaimed and Junhui nodded in disbelief. Wonwoo rolled his eyes and Minghao looked at the two confused as to why that was such a big deal.

"What's so big about that?"

"Whenever Wonwoo meets someone new, he tends to be the cold person with the resting bitch face, and he always rolls his eyes, but with you, he smiled! That means he already likes you," Junhui explained making Minghao's facial expression lighten up.

"R-Really?"

"Yep. Anyways, it's a bit late and Wonwoo and I have work early tomorrow. Cheol hyung wanted us to go earlier tomorrow and help Jihoon hyung record something, so we're going to bed now," Mingyu said as he glanced at the clock that read 11:36 pm.

"Crap! It's already night time?!" Minghao exclaimed and Junhui looked at the clock, surprised as well. They had been so invested in their dramas that they hadn't realized _hours_ had passed.

"Yeah. You guys were so focused on TV and each other that--ow!" Mingyu was cut off when Wonwoo elbowed him in the ribcage. Hard.

Junhui and Minghao both blushed.

"Ok, I'll stay with Minghao for a few minutes. I'll see you in the morning, I guess," Junhui said and the Meanie couple nodded, before heading to bed. Junhui looked at Minghao who was looking at him with curious eyes.

"Junnie?"

"Yes, Hao?"

"Does Wonwoo really like me, or were you guys just joking?" Minghao asked and Junhui smiled at him. He shook his head and pulled Minghao closer to himself.

"Of course I wasn't. I was serious when I told you Wonwoo already likes you. He's the kind of person who won't show anyone their real emotions until he's close with them and the fact that he smiled at you was a big deal to Mingyu and I since when we first met him, he was the cold person that ignored us until we finally became close. We only saw him smile after he and Mingyu found out they were soulmates, and that was almost a year into our friendship," Junhui explained and Minghao smiled happily.

Having your soulmate's friends accept you and like you was something big for Minghao as he had grown up being abused and ignored. Having attention for once was something new that Minghao decided he liked.

"Hey, Junnie?" Minghao called as he cuddled up against Junhui's chest. He didn't know why he was being so soft to Junhui. He had always been the sassy and savage kind to his friends, but around Junhui, he was always such a soft baby.

Then a thought popped into Minghao's head, leaving him disturbed.

_What if he didn't like it? What if he gets sick of me?_

All those thoughts were kicked out of his head as soon as Junhui wraps his arms around Minghao's waist pulling him onto his lap. The older male buried his face in Minghao's neck as the younger smiled secretly.

"Junnie?" Minghao called him again and this time Junhui replies, sounding a bit sleepy.

"Hmm?"

"Do you wanna go to bed? I can sleep on the couch today. It's--"

"No!" Junhui exclaimed, startling Minghao, who looked at him surprised.

"I mean, no. It's fine. I want you to sleep on the bed. You are the guest after all. I'll sleep on the couch. It's fine, Hao," Junhui said and Minghao looked at him with sad eyes.

"Don't give me that look, Hao. I'll be fine. I'm sleeping on a couch, not going to war," Junhui said as he chuckles. He yawned, and Minghao finally gave in. It seemed like he was too tired to keep arguing with Minghao, so Minghao sighed.

"Alright. But if your back hurts, it isn't my fault," Minghao said sassily and got up to leave. Junhui smiled as he laid down on the couch. He closed his eyes, too tired to say anything. His eyes were burning with sleep.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt something cover him and someone slide in beside him. He smiled sleepily as he pulled the lemon and honey scented boy towards him.

"You should be on the bed, Hao," Junhui mumbled quietly and he felt Minghao grumble.

"I don't wanna sleep in your stupid bed if you aren't there,"

Junhui chuckled and gently placed a kiss on Minghao's head before sleep slowly took over him.

"Night Hao,"

"Night, Junnie,"

❧

The next morning, Minghao woke up to the sound of someone talking. He groaned as he opened his eyes slowly. He looked around as he yawned, tears appearing in the corners of his eyes.

He wasn't on the couch anymore. Instead, he was on Junhui's bed, with the said boy nowhere to be seen. He yawned again and pushed the blankets off him.

"Junnie?" he called out as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He saw the familiar brown hair peek out of the kitchen with a phone in his hands.

"I'm in the kitchen, Hao,"

Minghao quickly walked to the kitchen where he latched onto Junhui's back like a baby koala clinging onto its mother.

"I'll call you later, Jisoo hyung,"

Junhui chuckled as he hung up the phone and looked back at Minghao who was yawning and cuddling onto his back. He turned the flame off before turning around to hug the younger male better. Minghao snuggled into Junhui's chest as Junhui wrapped his arms around the smaller male.

"Morning Hao," Junhui smiled as he hugged the other male. The black haired boy grumbled before snuggling further into Junhui's warm hold. The older male chuckled again as he faced the stove. Once he was sure the stove was off, he grabbed Minghao's waist, hauling him up so he was carrying the younger, brunette.

"Morning Junnie," Minghao mumbled as he snuggled into Junhui's neck. The older male smelled like eggs and bacon and a hint of something spicy and sweet.

Minghao liked it.

"Junnie?"

"Hmm?"

"What soap do you use?" Minghao asked as the older male sat down on the couch with him on his lap. Junhui laughed at the other male's innocent question.

"Something from that big store by the studio. The ajumma who owns the store knows me really well so she made some custom scented soaps for me," Junhui said as he stroked Minghao's hair.

Minghao hummed in content as he snuggled his face in the crook of Junhui's neck, sitting astride on his lap.

"How was your sleep?" Junhui asked and Minghao hummed again, bringing his face out of the crook of Junhui's neck to answer.

"It was good I guess. I'm just sad I didn't wake up to see you." Minghao mumbled and closed his eyes, listening to Junhui's calm heartbeat.

"I'm sorry Hao. Jisoo hyung called me to ask if I was coming into work or not. Mingyu told him that I wanted a week off because I found my soulmate. I agreed on it because, why not right? I wanna spend time with you," Junhui said and Minghao smiled, bringing his face out to look at Junhui.

"Really?" he exclaimed like a little kid that was going to get candy.

"Mhmm," Junhui hummed and Minghao reached out to squish Junhui's face.

"Thanks, Junnie. I really appreciate what you've done for me so far. I'm so glad I found you. I don't know what I'd be doing if I hadn't found you," Minghao mumbled, tears pooling in his eyes again.

Junhui sighed as he grabbed onto Minghao's waist. He pulled him into his chest to hug him again. He had only known Minghao for 2 days now and he already knew what comforted him and what made him cry.

"Shhh, Hao. I'll always be here for you. Don't worry about it,"

Minghao nodded and closed his eyes, as he took in Junhui's scent once again. It really did help calm him down.

"Thank you Junhui," Minghao said, sincerity lacing his voice. Junhui smiled and hummed.

They two sat like that for a while before Junhui decided to get up and continue making their breakfast before they wasted the rest of their day like they did yesterday.

"Hey, Hao. I have to make breakfast. Are eggs, bacon and sausages ok?" Junhui asked and when he didn't get a reply, he looked down at his chest to find the brunette fast asleep. He smiled endearingly at the younger male and got up, as he gently laid Minghao onto the couch. The smaller male frowned in sleep at the lack of warmth, whining unconsciously.

 _'He looks just like a puppy'_ Junhui thought as he grabbed the blanket from last night. It was dangling on the couch arm as he had left it there when he had moved Minghao from the couch to the bed last night. He gently kissed Minghao's forehead and put the blanket over the smaller male.

He then walked to the kitchen where he had left the bacon half cooked on the pan. He turned on the stove again as he got the tongs to cook the bacon. As he was cooking, he hummed the tune of My I.

Unknown to him though, Minghao was awake. He had been awake since Junhui moved him, but he was too tired to follow the older male. He had a nightmare last night and even though he had slept, he didn't have a very nice sleep. As he laid there with his eyes closed, he heard a few clangs before he heard Junhui humming the sweet tune of My I.

His eyes snapped open as he gently sat up. He didn't want to make any noise since he wanted to watch Junhui secretly. As he stood by the kitchen entrance, he saw Junhui moving around, grabbing different utensils and mixing different things, all while humming My I.

Minghao finally decided to reveal himself when Junhui had put the last dish in the sink.

"Junnie,"

The brunette visibly flinched before realizing that it was his soulmate that was calling him. He finally relaxed and motioned the black haired boy to come into the kitchen.

"Morning again, Hao. What's with the clinginess? Not that I mind though," Junhui said, smiling mischievously and Minghao pouted.

"It's not my fault that you're so comfy and smell so nice," Minghao complained, jutting his lips out further as it seemed to catch Junhui's attention.

"Well then sorry for being so comfy," Junhui said as Minghao buried his face in his chest once again. Minghao shook his head, making Junhui laugh as his hair tickled his face. Junhui gently pushed Minghao away from his chest.

"Let's eat breakfast, then we can cuddle all you want," Junhui said and Minghao giggled, officially slaying Junhui's already whipped ass.

Junhui gently lifted Minghao, putting him down on the countertop, making Minghao shiver. The older male grabbed a plate and served breakfast for the both of them on the one plate. When Minghao saw the plate, his eyes widened.

"Uh... Junnie?"

"Yes, Hao baby?"

"I know that you know I'm hungry, but...isn't that a little too much?" Minghao asked shyly and Junhui chuckled at Minghao's face, which soon held a pout on it.

"It's for the both of us, Hao. I'm feeding you, princess," Junhui says, bowing a little and Minghao giggled, blushing a little. He really did feel like a princess though, but that wasn't a bad thing.

Not at all. In fact, he enjoyed it. _A lot._

Junhui set the plate beside Minghao and got in between his legs. He then put the fork with the pancake on Minghao's mouth and the black haired male opened his mouth, happily eating the pancakes.

Junhui smiled adoringly at his partner, who took the fork from Junhui's hand and fed the older male. Junhui grins at the older, leaning up to peck the younger's lips. Minghao pouts.

"Sorry, princess. There was some syrup on your lips. That was a really sweet kiss," Junhui adds, winking at the smaller male who smiles at Junhui and squishes his face together, bringing their lips together for another, sweeter kiss.

Once they finished eating, Junhui washed the dishes with Minghao clinging to his back like a koala. The younger yawned.

"Junnie I'm bored,"

"Go watch TV then. I'll be there in a few minutes. I have a few more things to wash then I'm done," Junhui told Minghao, who pouted but nodded, walking away into the living room.

❧

A few episodes of a drama later the two males started to get bored.

"Hey, Hao?" Junhui calls and Minghao looks up at him with sleepy eyes.

"Hmm?"

"Wanna go on a date?"

Immediately, Minghao's sleepiness was gone and replaced by a wide smile. He nodded his head eagerly and looked at Junhui with sparkling eyes, and who was Junhui to say no to those eyes?

"Go get changed, princess. I'll change after you," Junhui said and immediately Minghao was bounding away into Junhui's bedroom to change. A few minutes later, he walked out in a yellow shirt, black wide-legged pants and one of Junhui's dark blue denim jackets. Junhui couldn't help but internally drool at the sight of his soulmate in _his_ clothes.

"What do you think?" Minghao asked as he put on a necklace and some sunglasses. Junhui smiled at the boy who looked more adorable than hot in his eyes.

"Perfect as always," Junhui said as he stood up.

"I'll be right back. Let me change," Junhui said as he ran to his room. A couple of minutes later, he walked out in a dark blue t-shirt, black jeans and a light blue denim jacket. He smiled at Minghao who was staring at him and grabs his wallet and phone.

"Are you warm? It's a bit chilly out," Junhui said worrying over Minghao's health. The small boy's appearance was a bit on the frail side, which obviously made Junhui worry.

"I'll be fine Junnie. Besides, I have you with me," Minghao smiled and Junhui swore he almost had a heart attack. He smiled as he slipped on his shoes and watched Minghao pull on his black boots.

He held out his hand, which Minghao gladly takes. Junhui pulled Minghao out of the apartment, making sure to lock it before walking outside with the younger brunette.

"Hey, Hao?" Junhui called and Minghao looked at him.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think your dad will try to find us?" Junhui asked and Minghao looked at Junhui with a serious look. Junhui stopped and pulled Minghao to face him.

"He will. Junnie. I know that he will. Especially now that I'm nearing my 18th birthday, he's gonna try and find me no matter what." Minghao said, looking down as he felt tears prick his eyes.

Junhui sighed and pulled Minghao into a nearby clothes shop. He pulled them to the masks and caps section before turning to Minghao.

"Pick a mask and hat, Hao," Junhui said to the black haired boy, who looked over at the collection in front of him. He quickly picked out a red beret and a black mask.

"What about you Junnie?" Minghao asked and Junhui nodded. He picked out a plain black cap and mask. They bring it to the cashier where Minghao stood behind Junhui, making sure to shield his face.

Once Junhui had paid, Minghao put on the mask and beret, styling it in a reflection on the shop's window. Junhui carelessly pulled on the cap and mask, somehow pulling it off just as well.

"Well at least now no one can recognize us," Junhui said as he, once again, grabbed Minghao's hand. The two strolled through the city, window shopping since they were too broke to actually get anything and stopping at a few places to take pictures.

"Hey, Hao?" Junhui called Minghao as they walk into a nearby cafe. Minghao hummed, swinging their arms back and forth.

"I know we haven't known each other for long, but you're my soulmate, my destined other half so we have our entire life ahead of us, but for now, do you wanna be my boyfriend?" Junhui asked and Minghao stopped, making Junhui stop.

"H-Hao?"

"Yes! Yes of course!" Minghao squealed as he jumped onto Junhui. He grinned and buried his face in Junhui's neck. The older of the two smiled and kissed his soulmate's red ear.

"Thanks, Hao." Junhui smiles happily. They embraced each other for a few more minutes before Minghao got off of Junhui.

"Let's go to the cafe!" Minghao smiled happily as he once again grabbed Junhui's hand, swinging it back and forth. The two walked into the cafe, taking in the warm smell of coffee and cakes mixed together.

"What do you want to order Hao?" Junhui asked and Minghao looked over at the menu board.

"Hmm...maybe a strawberry frappe and a strawberry cheesecake," Minghao said and Junhui smiled.

"Alright. Go find a table. I'll order and I'll come, Hao baby," Junhui said to the younger, who nodded and walked away to find a spot. As Junhui neared the counter, he spotted some familiar faces in the cafe.

_Is that Soonyoung and Jihoon?_

"Hi, can I take your order?" Junhui's attention was brought back to the cashier by a female voice. Junhui looks at the girl in front of him, who was batting her eyelashes at him. He internally rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless.

"Um yes. Can I get a strawberry frappe and a strawberry cheesecake, and a vanilla lava cake with a cafe mocha?" the girl nodded as she punched in the order.

"For here or to go?" she asked, voice sickeningly sweet. Junhui gritted his teeth as he gave another tight smile.

"For here. I'm on a date with my boyfriend," Junhui said and the girl turned a bright red.

"Is he your soulmate, because, ya know, if he isn't, maybe we could give it a shot," the girl grins at Junhui who clenched his jaw tighter.

"Actually ye-"

"Junnie? Why are you taking so long?" Minghao's sweet voice broke Junhui's discomfort. The older male grinned at his lover who was fiddling with his mask. He grabbed the smaller male's hand, pulling him towards his chest.

Minghao blushed but hugged Junhui nonetheless.

"Sorry, Hao baby. I was just picking out what I wanted," Junhui cooed at his small boyfriend. Minghao looked at the older and smiled. He leaned up to peck Junhui's cheek.

" ** _I found a table by the window in that corner. Table 17. Come quickly,_** " Minghao told Junhui in their mother tongue before walking away.

" ** _I'll be there in a few minutes, baobei,_** " Junhui called out and turned to the cashier.

"Anyways, how much will that be?"

"$15," the cashier says quietly and Junhui quickly paid, leaving their names and table number as he walked towards the smaller male. Junhui spotted the younger male sitting at their table, looking down at his phone.

"I'm back,"

Minghao looked up at the older and pouted.

" ** _I didn't like that lady back there Junnie. She looked at you weirdly. I didn't like it,_** " Minghao whined and Junhui tried his best not to coo at the small black haired male.

" ** _It's ok baobei. It's probably because I'm really handsome,_** " Junhui said, smirking and Minghao rolled his eyes.

" ** _Keep telling yourself that,_** " Minghao said and rolled his eyes.

Once they finished eating, Junhui took Minghao to a movie theatre. A typical cliche date, but what else would they do than be cheesy fucks?

After the movie, Junhui grabbed Minghao's hand, gently guiding him through the crowd who was eager to leave. He looked at his soulmate who looked ethereal, even in the dim lighting of the theatre.

"Did you like the movie?" Junhui asked and Minghao nodded enthusiastically. The younger started talking about how good the movie was and how he really enjoyed the date with Junhui, who grinned happily after hearing that.

Junhui pulled Minghao to the side of the theatre where there was no one and leaned down to gently kiss him. Minghao's eyes fluttered closed and he leaned up expectantly. Once their lips met, it felt like heaven to both of them.

They parted a few seconds later and Junhui smiled happily at his soulmate.

❧

That night, as the two layed in bed, Junhui smiled into the dark. Today had been very hectic, but he didn't mind. It was a good kind of hectic.

But he couldn't help but worry about what Minghao had said about his father. He knew that Mr. Xu would be out there looking for Minghao, so he had to be careful and make sure Minghao wasn't too exposed out in public.

Just until he was 18. After he was legal, he would be able to go out without the worry of his father. Junhui sighed as he thought of the date.

 _September 17._ That was the day they started dating. And the date that would be used to countdown the months until Minghao's birthday. This was going to be the most important birthday for Minghao, so Junhui was going to make sure that he got the birthday he deserved.

Soon, with those thoughts, Junhui managed to drift into a nice and comfy sleep with his soulmate in his arms, snuggled cozily into Junhui's chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave Kudos and a comment or two! I love you all :3


	4. 𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐕

𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐕| 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞

A month had passed by in a haze, with Junhui and Minghao trying their very best not to go out in public without proper attire, but they didn't mind. The two would rather stay at home than go out anyways, so they were all good.

The pair had also gotten a lot closer, not being awkward with each other anymore. Now, Minghao could walk around in just a shirt and boxers and it wouldn't affect Junhui anymore (well it would, but they just wouldn't get awkward).

One morning in late October, Junhui was getting ready to leave for work, and Minghao was sitting on the couch, watching his boyfriend dress up while watching TV. He was wearing a simple red muscle tank and ripped jeans with a plaid shirt around his waist.

He quickly pecked Minghao's lips making the smaller male protest and ruffled his hair before grabbing his wallet and keys.

"I'll see you later, baobei," Junhui called out and Minghao hummed, focusing back on the TV. He didn't have work today so he was relaxing at home. In the past month, Minghao had convinced Junhui to let him work in the same dance company as him. It had taken him quite some time, but Junhui had reluctantly given in. He _couldn't_ say no to those puppy eyes.

Minghao had _also_ gotten closer to Mingyu and Wonwoo, especially Wonwoo. The older male had made it his job to act like Minghao's older brother, and although Minghao complained, he was very glad he had someone like that in his life.

Mingyu and Minghao got along well too. Mingyu would always annoy Minghao and he would either get a scolding from Junhui, a slap on the back of his head from Wonwoo or a roundhouse kick from Minghao. He obviously preferred Junhui's scolding over the other two punishments.

The loud crash from the TV show Minghao was watching pulled him out of his thoughts and he sighed. The show was getting boring and repetitive now. The first few episodes were good, but now it was just boring. He exited the show and looked for a new series before deciding that he wanted to watch some anime.

Minghao quickly clicked on one that read _"The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" **(which you all should read and watch btw)** _and the best part of it was the fact that it was in his and Junhui's native tongue. _"魔道祖师,"_ he read and smiled as he clicked on it.

Minghao expected the anime to be a bit boring at first like most other anime he had watched. They usually built up in excitement and suspense over the second and third episodes, but this anime had him hooked right away. Maybe it was because it was in his native language or maybe it was because the animation was stunning.

Whatever it was, it had Minghao hooked and he didn't even realize how hooked he was until Wonwoo walked in.

"Minghao?" he called and Minghao just hummed, too focused on his show.

"Where's Jun?"

"Work. He should be home by 6," Wonwoo frowned as he looked at the clock on the wall beside the TV. It read 7:23. Wonwoo knew that Junhui wasn't late. If anything, he was usually early.

"Minghao, if you haven't noticed, it's already 7," Wonwoo tells the boy who immediately pauses the show and frowned as well.

"Why isn't Junnie home then? He's usually here by exactly 6:30," Minghao said and Wonwoo shrugs. Minghao was now getting worried so he rushed to his and Junhui's room where he had been charging his phone.

He and Junhui had gone and bought Minghao a new phone as well as a few other necessities. Junhui had wanted his soulmate to be as safe and secure as possible and a new phone and sim card was the place to start. It made sure that his father couldn't track him.

The next step had been to dye his hair. The previously black-haired boy was now silver-haired and to say Junhui was in love with it was an understatement. The small, shy and adorable boy he met only a month ago was gone and replaced with a more confident and sassy boy (not that Junhui minded).

Minghao's fashion had also significantly changed. A month ago, you would see Minghao in loose sweats and baggy shirts and hoodies, but now, he was more confident (plus he loved stealing Junhui's clothes, so that was a bonus).

The now silver-haired male hurried to his phone and tried to call Junhui. On the first try, the older male didn't answer, making Minghao's anxiety skyrocket. The smaller male was close to sobbing and Wonwoo, who was watching from the doorway, looked a little scared too. It was very unusual for his hyung to stay out past his normal 'curfew'. He watched as his hyung's soulmate tried once again and he finally let out a breath when the call was picked up.

"Hao? What's wrong baobei?" Junhui's voice could be heard and Wonwoo left, wanting to give them some privacy.

"Junnie! Where are you? Wonwoo hyung said that you normally come back by 6:30! I got scared..." Minghao said and Junhui chuckled.

"I'm sorry, baby. I forgot my phone in the changerooms and I only realized it when I was half way home so I had to go back and get it." Junhui told the smaller male who sighed in relief and nodded.

"Come back quickly Junnie," Minghao said before saying bye and hanging up. He let out a sigh and walked out to the living room where Wonwoo was waiting for him. Mingyu was still working until 9, so for now, it was just Wonwoo and Minghao.

"What did he say?"

"He forgot his charger and had to go back to get it," Minghao explained to Wonwoo and the older male nodded before walking back to the kitchen. Minghao followed the male, looking for a little something to munch on while waiting for his soulmate.

A few minutes later, the door to their apartment opened and Minghao was rushing to see who it was. His face fell a little when he saw that it was Mingyu, but he greeted the tall male nonetheless.

"Hey Hao. What's up?" Mingyu asked as he put his shoes and coat away. Minghao shook his head. "I was waiting for Junnie to come back," he explained and Mingyu frowned.

"He's not back yet? He left a few hours before me," Mingyu said as he walked into the living room with the silver haired male. Minghao's frown deepened when he heard Mingyu's statement.

"He said he left his charger,"

"Oh. He probably had to find it then. They usually clean out the dance rooms after each class to make sure it doesn't smell," Mingyu reassured the smaller male who still had a frown, but he seemed a bit more relaxed than before. Before they could say anything else, the door opened once more and Minghao's heart raced as he ran to the door once again.

This time, much to his happiness, it was his soulmate.

"Junnie!" he cried as he ran to his soulmate who chuckled and hugged the boy who had ran to him. "Hey, baobei. Sorry for worrying you. I had to look all over the place for the charger. They cleaned out the room and apparently Cheol hyung had it since he knew it was mine," Junhui said as he set the smaller male down and put his hand into his jacket pocket, pulling his charger which had little sunflowers painted on the adapter with the letters _'W.JH'_ painted on one of the sides. Minghao laughed upon seeing the charger.

"This looks like such a me thing to have," Minghao told the older who smiled. "I know. I painted it because it reminded me of you, HaoHao," Junhui told his soulmate who blushed before smacking the older's shoulder.

"S-shut up. I don't need any cheese for dinner," Minghao mumbled as Junhui laughed. Wonwoo poked his head out of the kitchen as he waved at Junhui.

"Hey Jun hyung. Dinner's gonna be ready in a few minutes so go shower," Wonwoo told the older male who nodded. Minghao followed his soulmate into their room as Junhui put his bag onto the chair by the bookcase and stretched, sighing when his spine popped.

"I'm so sore. Ever since my students saw that My I dance we did, they wouldn't stop pestering me until I taught it to them," Junhui whined to Minghao who smiled. He really liked the dance but he had no idea how to teach it. It was just something he had seen in his dream so he tried it in real life and now, he just did it.

"I don't know how to teach it to be honest. I just saw it in my dream and I did it," Minghao admitted to Junhui who looked at him wide-eyed as he took off his shirt. Minghao blushed a bit but tried his best not to show it.

"Really? Me too!" Junhui said and now it was Minghao's turn to look at him in shock.

"Wow. The world really wanted us together didn't it?" Minghao chuckled and Junhui laughed, nodding. "It really did. I'll be right back. I'm gonna take a shower. I'm sweaty," Junhui whined as he walked into his and Minghao's shared bathroom.

As Junhui was showering, Minghao laid on their bed and looked around the room. His eyes landed on Junhui's bag where a piece of paper was sticking up. Now, Minghao knew that snooping never did any good, but he couldn't help but want to know what that paper was, so the silver haired boy silently walked to the bookcase and pulled the paper out.

He frowned when he caught a glimpse of a familiar Chinese font and he froze when he saw what was written on it.

_'I know where you are and I will not hesitate to find you and Hao. Bring him to me at XXX park within 2 weeks and you won't be bothered or harmed. However, if you fail to do so, and I will hurt those close to you and trust me when I say I have eyes everywhere.'_

Minghao's hands started shaking as tears burned in his eyes. He could recognize this handwriting anywhere and what scared him even more was the fact that his father was absolutely capable of what he promised to do.

The small silver-haired male was so absorbed in his thoughts and worries that he didn't notice his soulmate walking out of the bathroom, drying his hair on his towel. When Junhui saw Minghao holding an all too familiar piece of paper, his blood ran cold. He had never intended for him to see the paper and now that he had seen and read it, Junhui couldn't help but worry about Minghao's well being.

He knew how much his father affected him.

"J-Junnie...please tell me this is a joke..." Minghao whispers quietly, looking at the older with tear-filled eyes and shaky hands. Junhui wished he could laugh and tell Minghao it was, but first of all, that would be extremely insensitive of him and second of all, it wasn't a joke. It was real and Junhui wished he could take away all the pain Minghao felt.

"It's not, Hao. I wish it was," Junhui said regretfully and immediately after those words left his mouth, Minghao's walls broke down as he started crying. Junhui ran to his soulmate's side and pulled him into his chest, cooing soft nothings into his ear as he waited for the silver-haired male to calm down a bit so that he could explain the situation.

A few minutes later, soft sniffles filled the room and Junhui took the opportunity to gently push Minghao away from him to look him in the eyes.

"Whatever happens, I'll never leave you. We can probably go file a restraining order against your dad tomorrow without you needing to be 18. Besides, your birthday's in a few weeks," Junhui told the younger male, who sniffled and nodded.

"O-Ok. Can we go tomorrow? I don't want to risk anything," Minghao whimpered and Junhui nodded, kissing Minghao's forehead gently.

"Of course, baobei. We can go whenever you want. For now, let's have dinner and cuddle. I don't want you worrying your pretty little head," Jun said as he wiped away the remaining tears on the younger's face.

The couple walked into the kitchen where Mingyu was stirring something and Wonwoo was watching him. The blonde haired male looked up and smiled, but his smile dropped when he saw Minghao's frown and puffy eyes.

"What happened? Is everything alright?" he asked worriedly and Junhui sighed shaking his head. "His dad found us and sent a note telling me to bring Hao to the park or else he'll harm us," Junhui said and Mingyu's head snapped up.

"What?! You need to report it to the police!"

"I know! We're going to do it tomorrow," Junhui said, but Mingyu immediately turned off the stove, shaking his head. "No can do! You call them right now! I'll drive you to the station. You're reporting this right now before it gets out of hand!" Mingyu said as he walked out of the kitchen, grabbing his jacket.

"Let's go!"

Wonwoo shook his head at his stubborn soulmate, but deep down, he knew Mingyu was right. Junhui sighed but didn't argue. Minghao, on the other hand, was quiet. He hadn't said anything and it was starting to worry Junhui.

 ** _"Hao? Baobei? Are you ok?"_** Junhui asked in their native tongue and Minghao shook his head, looking down at his feet. The older male's heart broke upon seeing his other half look so distraught and broken.

 ** _"It's alright. We're gonna report it now. You don't even have to wait until tomorrow. Don't worry, baby. We'll always have your back,"_** Junhui told the other, hugging him. Minghao nodded into Junhui's chest before pulling away, taking a deep breath and giving out a small smile.

"Let's go,"

❧

A few hours later, once the police had started to interrogate Minghao's case, the two were free to go back.

"Don't worry, son. You may not be aware but Xu Qian Jiao's company is also being charged with fraud, so this will only ensure that he is locked away. Depending on how bad the company's case is, your father may be sentenced to quite some time in prison. Besides, his reputation was never good, no offence to you, so I wouldn't be surprised if we find him guilty of any other charges," the kind officer at the station had told Minghao, which made him let out a sigh of relief.

"However, you may want to go to court and file a restraining order either way. It's better to be safe than sorry," the man had also warned them and Junhui had thanked the man before they walked outside.

Wonwoo and Mingyu were waiting in the car, talking to each other and giggling, making Minghao feel guilty about ruining the moment for them, but Junhui didn't seem to care.

"We're back!" the oldest exclaimed, surprising the meanie couple. Mingyu's eyes lit up.

"So how'd it go?" he asked the silver haired male who gave a small smile.

"Actually it turns out that my father had a fraud charge against him too. The officer said there may be more charges and that we should still get a restraining order regardless," Minghao explained and Mingyu let out a cheer.

"Yay! That's awesome for you, Minghao! Now you don't have to worry about that asshole for the time being," Mingyu grinned and Wonwoo nodded, smiling.

The youngest male blushed but nodded.

"Yeah. I'm glad. **_I've finally found my home and I don't want to let it go_** ," Minghao said the last part in Chinese, making the two Korean males frown in confusion. Junhui just let out a chuckle.

**_"We're never going anywhere, Hao. We're your family from now on,"_ **

"Can you, like, include us in your convo too? I wanna know what you two are saying," Mingyu whined as he started driving them back home.

Junhui let out a loud laugh.

"Well if you'd really like to know, I was just telling Minghao how good I am to be-" the older male was cut off when Minghao slapped a hand over his mouth, face dark red.

"Y-Yah! No you weren't! Y-You pervert!" Minghao yelped and Junhui pouted, pulling Minghao's hand off of his mouth. The two males in the front laughed at their hyung's behaviour and soon, the males in the back joined along.

❧

"Wake up, baby,"

Minghao groaned as he felt something poking his cheek. He huffed before turning around and snuggled into his pillow, which just so happened to be Wen Junhui.

"Baobei, wake up. It's your birthday!" the poking continued and soon, Minghao had enough.

"Wen Junhui, I swear to god if you don't stop, I will break your finger!" the silver haired male mumbled irritatedly into Junhui's chest, making the older laugh. His chest moved up and down once again, ruining Minghao's peaceful sleep. This made the younger mad and he pinched Junhui's ribs, making him whine in pain.

"Yah! I was trying to wake you up so that we could get ready for your special birthday date, but I guess you don't want it. Oh well. You can stay here while I enjoy the day," Junhui said, pulling out the reverse psychology card. This made Minghao whine.

"No! Junnie, stay in bed with me, please?" the silverette looked up at his lover with puppy eyes, dazed with sleep. Junhui clenched his jaw, resisting Minghao's trick. He knew that Mingyu and Wonwoo were planning a surprise for his soulmate, which was why they asked Junhui to distract Minghao by taking him out somewhere.

"Nope. I planned something special for you today, Hao and if you're not ready by..." Junhui glanced at the clock on their bedside that read '10:12' before continuing. "11, then we can't go,"

Immediately Minghao sat up, rubbing his eyes and grumbling about Junhui being 'an ugly gremlin'. The older chuckled as he watched his boyfriend waddle over to the bathroom to start his hour-long morning routine.

A year had passed since Minghao's dad was put in prison for sexual assault, child abuse, fraud, and identity theft. When Minghao heard the news of his dad being put in jail for 20+ years, he couldn't believe it, and he had started sobbing in happiness.

He was finally free of that demon that haunted his past.

A few months after the monster was locked away, Junhui and Minghao decided to move out of the apartment they had called home for so long and find their own place to make their home. The meanie couple were sad, but upon finding out that Junhui and Minghao were only moving a few minutes away, they were much happier.

Now, over a year later, Junhui was surprised at how in love he was with Minghao. He couldn't believe he had hated his soulmate for so long, but when he had told Minghao about his initial hatred towards the idea of soulmates, the boy had only smiled and kissed him gently telling the brunette it was ok, and Junhui couldn't believe how lucky he was to find Minghao.

"Junnie?" The brunette was pulled out of his reverie by his soulmate's soft voice. The older hummed, glancing at his lover who was dressed in a black shirt and black ripped jeans with a necklace dangling from his neck.

The smaller male had gone back to his natural black hair, deciding to let it grow out and to say Junhui liked this look was an understatement. He loved Minghao's natural look as much as his other looks but black haired Minghao was the Minghao he fell in love with at first sight.

"Are you ready? Minghao asked as he slipped on a red beret and his black creepers. Junhui hummed once again, pushing himself off the bed to stand up. He had woken up before Minghao and dressed in a white turtleneck sweater and a pair of black ripped jeans. He walked over to Minghao and grabbed his own beret he had paired with his outfit and slipped it on.

"Yep. Let's go," he said as he put on his plaid coat and black shoes, handing Minghao his own jacket. Minghao smiled and gave Junhui a small peck before leaning away with a slight blush adorning his cheeks.

"Good morning Junnie,"

The older laughed.

"Morning Hao,"

And with that they were off on their date.

_"When I take one step closer_

_The flower path grows thorns_

_Then you reach out to save me"_

That was Junhui's favourite part of the song that had brought them together. The song that represented them, and that specific line described how Minghao had saved Junhui from his hateful past and it represented how Junhui saved Minghao from his inner demons and monsters.

They had saved each other from their personal monsters but now, they had finally found their home and happiness; with each other and Junhui decided that he wanted it no other way.

Minghao was his yesterday, his today and his tomorrow.

Forever and always.

**Fin | 結束 | 종료 | End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last chapter of My I. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> You can find me and this book on Wattpad @im_chogistuck. On Wattpad, this book is under the name 'Book of Wonder' if anyone wants to check that out! You can also find me on Instagram @x_lu_xo or @sheepthelulu
> 
> Don't forget to leave Kudos and comments! I love you all. Stay strong and healthy, loves!


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